Professor Ratio continued, "They wanted to work with Herta on a few projects and invited me along as their technical advisor.
"I gladly accepted. It was a good chance to observe up close how the members of this 'Great Geniuses Club' would waste the company's assets.
"However... the timing was too perfect. Perhaps someone leaked the news, allowing the attacker to take advantage of it. Herta, on the other hand, seemed quite used to this kind of provocation, which only made me more curious about what was really going on."
Listening to the professor's comments, Asta said, "I've long heard that Mr. Ratio is one of the Intelligentsia Guild's finest. It's an honor to have your help."
"Save the flattery," Ratio said as he took a few steps forward and looked at Screwllum. "Your time and mine are both valuable. Besides, talking about the best among ordinary people in front of a Genius is, to me, somewhat amusing."
He smiled lightly, then turned to Stelle.
"Miss, tell me, what did you do the last time you saw that puppet?"
Stelle blinked.
"Uh... walked Peppy with Arlan?" she answered uncertainly.
Asta frowned after hearing that, sounding a little unhappy.
"What? You played with Peppy without inviting me?"
But then Stelle frowned even harder.
"Hmm... no, wait. I think Nero was the one walking the dog...? What was Arlan doing again?"
"You still didn't invite me!" Asta complained.
Ratio narrowed his eyes at Stelle.
"Stop pretending. Think carefully."
"Stop talking. I just remembered something, and you scared it away."
Perhaps after spending so much time with Nero, Stelle had started to become more like him. Faced with Ratio's urging, she answered him so directly before falling back into thought.
Ratio stood there without saying another word.
After observing them these past few days, he had confirmed one thing.
Compared to everyone else, that young man named Nero was probably someone he would find especially difficult to deal with. Even more troublesome than the most difficult student.
And the gray-haired girl in front of him now showed quite a few traces of that boy.
People who are blindly stubborn are hard to get along with, and people who are overly self-centered are just the same.
———
"...Right, do one more thing for me. That Curio is missing. I can't just ignore it. Help me look for it when you have time, you should be able to do it."
In Stelle's memory, the last time she spoke with Herta, the Genius had asked her to help find a missing Curio.
At that time, her puppet had not disappeared yet.
"In case you didn't remember, let me describe it again. It's a kind of ****. It has no physical form, but it is alive. If you find any trace of it, send me a signal."
Herta's description of that Curio still remained in her memory. It was only a single simple sentence, pitifully brief compared to the detailed descriptions Curios usually had.
But no matter how hard Stelle tried to remember, she still could not recall part of that description.
"Anyway, do your best. I'm heading out. If you need help, ask Asta."
That was probably the last thing Herta had said...
'So what did I run into after finding Asta?'
"...Hmm, a living Curio without a physical form? Sorry, I don't have any ideas at the moment... Maybe someone from the Ecology Department or the Sealed Archives Department would know something."
Stelle remembered the clue Asta had given her.
"Hinkel and *** are nearby right now. I'd suggest asking them."
Unfortunately, there were still parts of that memory she had not recovered.
Stelle continued searching deeper into her memories.
She remembered that some frightened researchers had been discussing something in the lobby. One of them said he had seen someone disappear in an instant, leaving not even a piece of bone behind.
But the other researchers, numbed by their work, dismissed his story completely.
Someone even said that instead of listening to scary stories, they would rather look at the new Nero photos in the group album. Since Nero had returned to the space station recently, the group had been flooded with beautiful pictures.
After that, Stelle found Hinkel.
According to Hinkel, the living Curio without a physical form was the Wraith Warden, now known as Wubbaboo.
Although she couldn't help Stelle, she recommended someone else instead, Little Adler.
Stelle remembered that it was around then that she ran into Nero and Arlan.
She remembered that when she found Arlan, he was talking to a member of the Security Department.
"What? He took Peppy to the scene by himself?! Why did you let him..."
"Bro, don't panic. I know you're panicking."
"What are you two doing?" Stelle asked.
Arlan and the Security Department researcher seemed startled by Stelle's sudden appearance. They turned around, and Arlan stammered, "I-I'm walking the dog..."
The Security Department researcher also looked nervous.
"I-I'm taking a walk..."
Seeing the two of them talking nonsense, Stelle folded her arms and narrowed her eyes.
"Can you two at least get your stories straight?"
After having a moment to calm down, Arlan answered much more steadily.
"I'm walking the dog."
The researcher beside him froze for a moment before saying in a righteous tone, "I'm the dog."
At the same time, ahead of Stelle, behind Arlan and the Security Department researcher, the white-haired boy slowly walked over, his wide sleeves swaying as he moved.
When he heard the words "I'm the dog," he paused for a moment. The next second, his expression became wonderfully complicated before he spoke in a little devil's tone, "You're the dog? Then bark."
Stelle saw the two people in front of her visibly tremble before immediately turning around.
"Well... Boss Nero, this is..." The Security Department researcher seemed to want to struggle a little more, but quickly gave up.
"Woof, woof... woof!"
Arlan awkwardly tugged at the corner of his mouth and stiffly changed the subject.
"Nero, what did you need me for?"
"Mm, I'm looking for Peppy. I didn't see him in the Master Control Zone, so I came to ask you. It's time for him to go on his walk with Little Aha today."
As Nero spoke, a "guniu guniu" sound came from behind him. A red Cat Cake bounced out. Its shell looked as if it had been covered with colorful popping candy, and its round little face was so bouncy that it looked like pudding.
It was one of the creatures Nero had created using the machine in the Seclusion Zone, the same one mentioned before that loved watching excitement.
Because of the strange sense of familiarity he felt from the little thing, Nero named it Little Aha.
Likewise, the one that oozed golden honey syrup was called Little Nanook, the one that looked like a bean cake was called Little Yaoshi, and the one that liked chasing after Little Yaoshi to beat it up was called Little Lan.
[🫠 New Fanfic—"ReZero: I Transmigrated, But My Life is Still Miserable". Add it to the collection and leave some powerstones. I really want it to reach collection and popularity ranking so I would be glad if you all helped. Have a great day~]